


Valentines Day

by TheViperQueen



Series: To Charm a Snake [2]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 3
Genre: Also Susie is a right bitch, And Butch maaaay have like Drey more than he hated her, Audrey maaaay have had a teeny-tiny crush on Butch back in the day, Gen, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-14
Updated: 2015-02-14
Packaged: 2018-03-11 04:43:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3314420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheViperQueen/pseuds/TheViperQueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Butch is having a craptastic V-Day and Audrey tries to make it a bit better.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Valentines Day

**Author's Note:**

> Figured it would be appropriate to post since it's- well Valentine's Day lol.

“I'm sure that I don't have to remind you all that tomorrow is Valentine's Day,” Mr. Brotch paused as a cheer went up from the class. “Yes, yes,  _excitement_. There will be a party tomorrow. Remember to bring your valentines, food, and any other party related items,” he managed to squeeze in just as the bell sounded announcing the end of class.  
  
“Are you still coming over to make valentines with us?” Susie asked Christine as they gathered their books.  
  
She gave an enthusiastic nod. “Yup! My mom's coming too. She has some really neat things for us to glue to them.”  
  
Susie smiled at her cousin before turning cruel eyes on Audrey and Amata who were chatting by the water fountain. “What about you two?”  
  
Audrey cocked an eyebrow at the girl. “And you're talking to us because...?”  
  
“I was just wondering if your moms were going to help you with your valentines.” The blonde  widened her eyes in mock embarrassment, putting a hand over her mouth as she 'realized' her 'mistake'. “Oops, I forgot, you two  _don't have moms_.”  
  
Audrey looked torn between ripping the girl's throat out and comforting her friend who was tearing up. “Come on Amata,” she said finally, putting an arm around the girl and leading her off.  
  
Butch just shook his head and the whole scene. He was mean, but that was low. He knew the sting of having a missing parent, not that he knew if his father was dead or not, heck he didn't even know who he  _was_...  
  
He shook his head and started for home, not wanting to dwell on the depressing thought.

* * *

“Hey baby,” Ellen slurred from where she was sprawled out on the couch.  
  
The smell of whiskey hit him hard making Butch look around for its source. Finally his eyes landed on the bottle laying on its side next to the table. “Hey mom,” he mumbled, righting the bottle. Apparently she was drinking lunch again.  
  
“How-wus-scool?”  
  
“Fine,” he sighed, going into the bedroom for a towel to clean up the amber liquid.  
  
“That's good. _You're_ good,” she rubbed clumsily at his head as he cleaned up the mess. “You're a good boy Butchie.”  
  
He looked up at his mom, hating the watery look in her eyes.  _Why do you have to be this way mama? Why can't you be like a normal mom?_  He wanted to shake her and shake her hard until she snapped out of her drunken stupor, but instead he gave her a weak smile before tossing the towel into the hamper.  
  
“Learn anything today?” she asked, sitting up.  
  
He sat next to her, leaning into her side. “I guess. We had a pop quiz over the different types of energy, I got a hundred.”  
  
“That's great!” she exclaimed, pulling him into a crushing side hug. “You're a smart one Butchie, and don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise.” She stared at him intently until he nodded his understanding.  
  
Butch turned away from her then, wiping at his stinging eyes. It was rare for his mom to be this lucid when drunk, and for her to be so encouraging, so loving... it was almost as if she were an normal mom.  
  
“So,” he started once he trusted his voice enough to come out without cracking, “tomorrow's Valentine's Day. We're going to have a party and stuff. It's probably going to be lame, but they'll be having free food. Anyways, everyone's gonna be making valentines and junk for the party and I was wonderin' if you'd help me make some?” Holding his breath he waited, not knowing what reaction to expect. “Mama?” he inquired after a moment of no reply.  
  
A soft snore was all he got in response. Ignoring the feelings of resentment and rejection, he laid his mama back on her side before retrieving a trashcan and blanket from the bedroom. He covered her with the thick yellow cloth before setting the trashcan in the spot that he knew from years of practice that she would puke in.   
  
“Night mama,” he said, placing soft a kiss on her cheek.

* * *

 _I should've stayed at home_ , Butch sighed as he glared at the pink basket hanging from the side of his desk. It was empty except for one card with a tiny sucker taped to it that Paul had dropped in. Everybody else seemed to be avoiding him like the plague, including his so called friend Wally, all because he didn't have any valentines to hand out.

When Christine tried to give him one, Susie stopped her saying that it wasn't fair to give him one when he had none to give in return. He tried to play it off with his usual bravado, (“Butch DeLoria doesn't  _give_  valentines baby, he  _gets_  them.”) but she just smirked at him before whispering something to her cousin.  
  
The pair walked off giggling and Butch just knew that they were making fun of him, or worst yet, his mom. He thought about going over there and punching them both in the face, but mama was still passed out at home and she wouldn't be too happy about being roused from her drunken slumber to come retrieve him from the security office yet again.  
  
So instead he sat there alone staring at the other kids who had separated themselves into two factions. Grouped around the food -and essentially holding it hostage- were the “cool kids” (consisting of Wally, Susie, Christine, and -just barely- Paul) and sitting in the back corner huddled around a stack of comic books were the “lames” (that being Audrey, Amata, and Freddie).  
  
 _This fuckin' blows_ , he thought to himself,  _I'm too cool to be with the lames and too lame, or rather too lacking in the “supportive parent” area, too be with those jerkoffs._  
  
“Hey kids,” a voice sing-songed from the door, snapping him out of his dark musings.  
  
Mr. Brotch looked up from the book he was reading. “Mrs. Mack, Mrs. Kendall, to what do we owe the honor?”  
  
If the sisters picked up on his sarcasm they ignored it. “We've got a surprise for the kids set up in the atrium,” Mrs. Kendall said.  
  
The teacher raised his eyebrows at them. “Oh?”  
  
“Un-huh, a Valentine's Day themed scavenger hunt!” Mrs. Mack said, earning excited murmurings from the class.  
  
“Huh, well kids, you're free to go with them if you want. Those who want to stay in here are welcomed,” Mr. Brotch said, turning his attention back to his book.  
  
Christine and her cousins ran out of the room with Paul in tow, leaving Butch alone with the lames.  
  
 _This is just great._   _Might as well just cut out early and go home._ If he was going to be rejected, he could at least endure it in the comfort of his own home. Without a word to anyone he left, leaving behind the dinky pity card Paul gave him.

“Hey,” he heard Audrey's voice call out to him just as he reached the corner.  
  
He sighed loudly before turning to face the girl. “What do you want Nosebleed?” he sneered, heart not fully in the insult.  
  
She rolled her eyes before thrusting the contents of her hands towards him. “Here.”  
  
“What's this?” he asked looking at the card and cupcake in confusion.  
  
“A Valentine's Day card and a cupcake? Duh.”  
  
Butch rolled his eyes at her even as he accepted her offerings. He stared intently at the oddly shaped card for a moment before recognition hit him. “Is this-”  
  
“A human heart?” she cut him off. “Yeah. Kinda nerdy, I know, but I wanted to do something a little different.”  
  
He looked at the card closely. It was very detailed, and while Butch didn't know the names of all the parts, he did know that they were all there. “You're actually pretty good at drawing,” he mumbled more to himself than her.  
  
He looked up just in time to see the slight blush spreading across her caramel colored cheeks. “Uhh, thanks,” she shrugged, rubbing at the spot on her arm where her pip-boy should be, a nervous habit she developed once all the other kids starting getting theirs.  
  
For some reason the coy look on her face made his stomach twist in strange ways. “Yeah... well why the hell are you giving this to me anyway?” he demanded, falling back on old habits. When in doubt, get angry.  
  
The blush receded as her glare emerged. “Because I was trying to be nice _you ass_ , but I can see that that was a waist of time.” Butch glared back at her as they fell into an awkward silence. “I'm going back to class,” she said after a moment.  
  
“Wait!” his mouth called after her without his consent.  
  
Audrey raised an eyebrow at him. “What?”  
  
Butch looked down at his shoes, not able to hold her gaze. “I, umm, thanks... I guess.” He heard walking and assumed that she had went back to the classroom until another pair of shoes moved into his field of vision. “Huh?” was all he got out before Audrey's face moved in close to his. Before he could fully comprehend what was happening a pair of soft lips were leaving a chaste kiss on his cheek.  
  
“Happy Valentine's Day Butch,” the girl whispered before running back into the way she came, leaving a stunned Butch in her wake.

**Author's Note:**

>  **Other places this story can be found:**  
>  _Fallout Kmeme:_ http://falloutkinkmeme.livejournal.com/1154.html?thread=6767746#t6767746  
>  _Tumblr:_ http://thepuckishrogue.tumblr.com/post/19146456486/valentines-day


End file.
